Save You
by SamNny
Summary: "Shaking my hands off his shoulders, it was his turn to grab me. He firmly latched on to my arms and closed off the distance between us. It took him standing on his tippy-toes, but he was able to reach my face and..." Tomoyohara


I'm not really sure what possessed me to come running out this late at night. I had a couple of ideas, I suppose, but they don't really seem to push away my confusion. It could just be that it's because I'm a nice person. It could also be because it was Tomoya who called me and asked me to do it with a crying Nagisa in the background. But, then again, it could also be because if I wanted his vote, I had to make sure he was alive to cast it. However, the reasons were sort of irrelevant, because the fact of the matter was that I was already dressed and halfway to the river.

The frigid air really tore at my skin and the cold night air wasn't being too kind to my hair. I tied it up pretty sloppily before I left, but I was in too much of a hurry to grab anything warmer than a lightweight jacket. My vision was becoming watery and blurred and I had to wipe at them several times before I could see straight again. Just what in the Hell was that idiot thinking walking home all by himself? Wasn't he at least smart enough to travel with someone when going through this part of town at night? Honestly, the level of stupidity that he keeps rising to never ceases to amaze me.

I rounded several corners and headed down three separate flights of concrete stairs before I was finally in view of the bridge. That numskull should be on the other side. And I swear, if I find him in pieces, I'll rip them all apart. And if I don't, I'll still rip them apart and then clobber him. Just thinking about the ridiculousness of the situation made my anger spike. I haven't felt this angered and agitated in quite a few years. So much for putting that sort of thing behind me.

When I passed under the bridge, I got quite the eyeful. Several men were huddled around some short kid and throwing amateur punches and kicks at him. He was fighting back - hard as he could, I'm sure - but the whole thing looked rather pathetic. He had one guy in a chokehold before long and the other guys just started ripping at him. They tore his coat and the fluff inside was carried off with the wind. I saw them tear at the scarf around his neck and try and use it to choke him back, but he still wouldn't let up. Despite being severally outnumbered, he didn't show one sign of giving up. It was **almost **admirable.

Almost, as in it would have been if he didn't start the fight. Which I knew he did.

Stepping out from the dark shadows of the bridge, I purposely stood under a dim street light and coughed. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks and set their sights on me. I folded my arms, lightly rubbing them with my hands to keep warm. The stupid jacket I wore was practically paper-thin. I kept my eyes narrowed, not wanting to invite another blurry attack to get in my way. The boys loosened their grip on my target and let their eyes wander all over my body. Even I knew when I was being ogled at. The perverts.

Though, I had to admit, my nightshirt, sweatpants, and partially unzipped jacket with a messy ponytail would give any lecherous man a reason to stare. The shirt was a pure white color and it was loose to let my body breathe. It was meant to hang partially off my shoulder, which it was, along with my jacket. My sweatpants were also baggy and barely tied up. They **were** when I left, but they loosened up on the run over here. And my already messy hair was considered "sexy" all pulled back. I was rather creped out to be thinking such things about myself, but I knew it was only the truth. Hell, that little runt was even staring at me.

"Is that all you can think to do, Sunohara? I have these men distracted and you just stare at me?"

All eyes were back on him and the group recomposed themselves and grabbed hold of him. They were shouting at him, telling him how low it was for him to bring a woman in to help him. They must have assumed we had a relationship, because they kept threatening to snag me from him, but all he said was that there was no way he'd date a man such as myself. I tuned them out after that and "snuck up" behind them to end matters quickly.

It didn't take long, or much effort, for me to effectively unleash a powerful round of kicks that sent all but one of them flying sky high. Blood dripped down like rain drops, but it wasn't anything too severe. They would need an ambulance, but they most certainly wouldn't die or be permanently crippled. But the one guy that I missed kept evading me and I let my irritation brew up again. Where did he wander off? And Sunohara?

I turned sharply on my heel and found that Sunohara had dragged the man a good several feet away and proceeded to beat the snot out of him. From this distance, it looked like his usual barbaric fighting style, but there was one small thing off: he took his time between punches and shots to speak. What he was saying, I couldn't audibly hear, but the man looked rather terrified. I thought that if I didn't intervene, Sunohara would have no problem leaving him within an inch of his life.

"Sunohara, that's enou-"

"... ever catch you staring her down like that again, I'll rip your eyeballs out myself!"

This was... unexpected.

I watched as he delivered one final blow before he stood up and brushed himself off. When he turned to face me, I thought it better not to let him know that I overheard. He wiped blood from his mouth and coughed before walking towards me.

"I could have handled them by myself, ya know. How'd you know I was here, anyway?"

"I received an urgent phone call."

"So you came to rescue me? Who was it? Was it Tomoya! That bastard saw me getting harassed and he called you instead of coming to help me?! Why, I oughta-"

I listened to him throw his hissy fit and wondered that myself. If Tomoya knew his best friend was in trouble, why didn't he just help him himself? He wasn't afraid to get into a fight, or lose one, for that matter. As long as he stood by his friend, he felt good about himself. Why did he call me instead?

"I don't know."

"Huh?"

"Why he called me. I don't know."

Not really sure about what to do now, I stepped back and retreated back the way I came. Sunohara was safe and I no longer had business here. I needed to go home and get some sleep so I wouldn't be late for school in the morning. I needed to do everything in my power to keep myself from being distracted with my own thoughts to go to sleep tonight. I'd confront Tomoya in the morning.

"Hey, wait up!"

I stopped and turned my head, surprised to see the little blonde idiot trailing after me. When he caught up, I resumed walking, and he followed. We walked back under the bridge and up the steps in silence, the air getting seemingly thicker by the minute. Sunohara laced his fingers and folded his arms behind his head to support it. Although I was confused, I had no reason to shoo him away from me, so I let him walk beside me a little longer. I began to wonder when he would have to split off away from me to get to the dorms. Was I supposed to walk him home, too?

"Hey, Tomoyo."

I glanced at him and saw an unusually serious expression on his face. Sad as it was to say, it didn't suit him very well. I was used to his obnoxious smile and un-cute facial expressions. This was too weird.

"Why'd you come down to save me?"

Immediately stopping, I gaped at him, caught completely off guard by his question. I hadn't taken into account that he'd find it strange that I'd show up to rescue him. I had even wondered the same thing when I left, but gave up on finding an answer when one did not obviously present itself to me.

The cold air draped around me like a blanket and I shivered in response. Damn this useless excuse for a coat. Why did I even have this thing anyway? But losing myself in thought about my sad attire, I failed to notice Sunohara step towards me until his scarf was tossed around my neck. He wrapped it around me before stepping back. The serious expression was still there, but his eyes lightened up and I felt a tiny wave of relief hit me. He really shouldn't be allowed to walk around with a face like that.

"I don't know. To be completely honest, I wondered the same thing as I was getting dressed."

He smirked and turned to keep walking, but stopped when he noticed I wasn't following. His eyes were laced with confusion and a tad bit of worry, but I brushed it off and tugged gently at his scarf. It smelled like him, and although the scent of ramen and cologne wasn't exactly appealing, it was still warm and a very kind gesture. And he noticed me fiddling with it and I saw a light shade of pink spread across his cheeks before he turned his head forward.

"Don't get the wrong idea. You were cold - I gave that to you because you helped me out. Even though I could have handled it on my own, you **did **come running all the way from your house for me. Guess you must be in love with me or something. Either that, or you're Tomoya in disguise and I'm gonna beat the crap out of you!"

I watched his backside as he started going off again. He most assuredly was going to have some sort of revenge on his partner for this. But still, all of that aside, I couldn't help but laugh at his sudden outburst. It wasn't even just a quick little laugh, either. I was laughing hard - so hard that my eyes were watering again and my sides hurt. Dogs were barking and I was sure that I was waking up half of the people on this street. I just couldn't help it, though. Despite being a stupid idiot, I was always able to admit to myself that he was charmingly funny. He still deserved the beatings I gave him, though. Accusing me of being a man was still highly outrageous and insulting.

His eyes were bug-eyed as he watched me try and get a hold of myself. I tried so hard to wipe away the liquid that streamed down my face, but my eyes still let the water pour. It must have been due to the cold. But I did finally manage to stop wracking my body and stand up straight again. With one hand rubbing my eye, I used the other to wave at him and motion for him to stop staring at me. Then, all of a sudden, there was this other sudden outburst. I opened my eyes quickly to see him on the ground, rolling like a log, laughing hysterically.

He made a couple of remarks, but I couldn't understand any of them. He recomposed himself not long after and tried to stand up. I walked over and leant him a hand.

"Are you finished?"

Snickering, he grabbed my hand and pulled himself up.

"Ha-ha, sorry about that. I'd never seen you laugh like that before. Your body was shaking and your whole face lit up like a neon sign. You looked ridiculous!"

"And you didn't?"

'Oh, come on now! Don't take a cheap shot."

Giggling, I brushed past him and, once again, continued my walk home. He jogged up behind me and, once again, took a place by my side. I felt like we had been walking forever and my house still wasn't in sight. I was also pretty certain he missed his turn to head back to the dorms. Was he just aimlessly following me? Maybe he was just too zoned out to know what was going on around him. Now that he lost the serious look, his clueless look made that whole idea plausible.

"Sunohara, I believe you missed your turn."

"Say what?"

"To go back to the dorms? The street was two blocks back."

"Yeah."

Saying nothing more, I gave him a skeptical look. He really was following me, wasn't he? Was it really a good idea to let him know where I lived? He could very well try and make those accusations at my front door. I didn't need my family or neighbors to hear such crude things. But when I stopped to confront him, he surprised me again.

"Thanks for saving my ass back there. I can talk a lot of talk, but I knew I was in trouble. Man or woman, you took care of those guys for me. I guess I owe you one."

His face still had that pink tint to it and then a blush appeared on my own cheeks. Was it contagious or something? Was it the cold? It **had** to be, right?

"This doesn't change anything, though. One way or another, I'm gonna prove that you really are a man. However good looking you are in those pajamas-"

He covered his mouth to prevent himself from sputtering out any more nonsense, but I still heard him. My eyes were wide open and drilling holes into him. What exactly was he getting at?

He dropped his hands quickly and chuckled, clearly embarrassed and, dare I say, nervous? Inching backwards, he babbled some useless words in an excuse to leave. But when he turned to run, I grabbed the back of his shirt. I didn't exactly have anything prepared to say, but I couldn't just let him escape like that. I had to get to the bottom of this.

"What were you saying?"

"C'mon, forget about it! I slipped up my words, I didn't mean anything. I gotta get home now, O.K.?"

Not buying into his crap, I spun him around and planted both of my hands firmly on his shoulders. I made direct eye contact ad was prepared to cut off any routes he would use to get away from me. I was going to know before I got home.

"Please, Sunohara, don't lie. You said something else questionable to that man you beat up. What's going on?"

"You heard that!"

"Just the ending."

His face turned a crimson shade of red and I thought his head might pop off and explode. My cheeks were still pink, as well, so I knew the feeling. What was he hiding from me? If I was such a man, why was he blushing so hard?

Dropping his head, he balled his fists and smirked. He didn't take a lot of time to gather his thoughts and give me an answer. I was pretty sure he sputtered out the first thing that came to mind.

"Guess the cat's out of the bag, huh?"

Shaking my hands off his shoulders, it was his turn to grab me. He firmly latched on to my arms and closed off the distance between us. It took him standing on his tippy-toes, but he was able to reach my face and...

His lips came crashing down hard onto mine. He stole a forceful and lusty kiss from me. My first instinct was to push him away and pound him into the ground, but all my rationality appeared to be thrown out the window. I just stood there and closed my eyes. My muscles relaxed and I let my body mesh with his. Despite being shorter than me, I still fit quite nicely into his small frame. His lips were soft and his breath was minty. I guess I couldn't complain. What really surprised me, though, was how much I actually **enjoyed **his kiss. Even though it wasn't picturesquely romantic, there was still something lovely about it.

When he pulled away from me, he lifted his head to look at me and smirked **again**. He flashed me this stupid grin and gave me a thumbs up. I was, of course, dumbfounded, and didn't know how to react.

"Get the idea, Tomoyo?"

Giving him a faint nod even though I had no idea what just happened, he smiled and turned around.

"That Tomoya sure is a sly bastard, but I guess he made the right call this time. I guess I won't have to pound him as hard as I wanted to."

He started walking back down the street to head back to the dorms, leaving me standing on the sidewalk like an idiot. He almost made it completely out of my sight before he turned back and started yelling at me.

"What's the matter with you, huh?! You got your goodnight kiss, now run along and go home! I wouldn't want you to get sick and miss a day of school. It could hurt your chances at winning the elections!"

Placing a finger over my lips, I subconsciously smiled and did as I was told. Turning around, I walked in a butterflies-swirling-inside-my-stomach induced trance until I reached my front door. Realizing I still had his scarf, I discarded all of my other unnecessary garments, and I slept anxiously curled up with it still wrapped around my neck. What exactly was tomorrow going to bring me?

* * *

"A/N: Yes, the Tomoyohara pairing lives on! I have no idea where this idea came from, but I really enjoyed writing this. It was plausible, right? Everyone was in character, right? A little OOC? I hope not. I don't want to babble, so I'll just get to the point: Please review."


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